In recent years, it has become desirable to market books and an additional media, such as, for example, audio cassette tapes, computer disks and compact discs, as a single unit. By marrying the technology of sound recordings or computer files with the printed text of books, the entertainment and/or informational value of the books is enhanced thereby increasing the marketability of such books. More specifically, the recent popularity of compact discs, commonly referred to as CDs, combined with the small size of CDs has made the sale of books together with CDs particularly attractive. To enable the successful marketing of a combination book and CD product, a carrier device for packaging the books and CDs as a single unit is required. Presently, a number of devices are available for packaging compact disks or similarly shaped media with books or the like.
By way of example, Uchida U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,599 discloses a container for holding a floppy disc that has a double-sided adhesive strip on a back panel of the container for securing the container to the inside of a binder. The container additionally comprises a flexible plastic square-shaped film that is attached at three edges of the film to the back panel. The fourth edge of the film is not attached to allow for insertion of a floppy disk.
As for other examples, Pace et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,605 discloses a folder for binding and mailing CDs. In particular, the folder is made from a single web of card stock that is folded into two equal panels along a central fold line. One of the panels serves as a rear panel for the folder while the other panel serves as a front panel which is positioned atop the rear panel. A protectively wrapped CD is applied to the rear panel of the folder with an adhesive. In addition, the folder includes a line of weakening along one edge to define a combined binding and tear strip. The teal strip may be edge bound in a magazine and the line of weakening spaced from the edge to facilitate the separation of the folder from the magazine along the tear strip. As yet another example, Stevens U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,912 discloses a personalized envelope assembly for a disc that can be bound into the interior of a printed publication.
In addition to patents directed to the unitary packaging of CD-like media with books, several patents are directed to techniques for packaging a CD individually or in combination with other CDs. For example, Bauer U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,496 discloses a package for a compact disk or computer diskette that includes a corrugated board inset attached to a panel of a die-cut sleeve. The sleeve folds to create a cavity within which the corrugated board is positioned. The corrugated board includes a CD shaped recess for holding the CD. Moreover, the die cut sleeve includes a perforated tear strip to provide for easy opening of the package.
For a further example, Manning U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,477 discloses a storage container having the overall appearance of a conventional book but which actually includes an interior cavity having pockets for holding compact disks or audio cassettes. Lastly, Pettey U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,491 is directed to a compact disc folder having the form of a booklet with a front and back cover, and a pocket for holding CDs is attached to the interior of the front cover.
It is desirable to provide a carrier device which enables the packaging of a CD(s) with a book as a single unit that is light-weight, inexpensive and that is detachably secured to the book without adding bulk and without increasing the dimensional size of the book. Moreover, it is desirable that the packaging unit be easily manufactured and be usable as a storage unit for the CD while the CD is not in use.
In one or more respects, the earlier attempts discussed above have failed to meet these criteria in their entirety. As a result, the present invention is directed to overcoming this failure and achieving one or more of the resulting objects.